INDIE SHORT FEST

“Grind” is a story of anxiety and insecurity run rampant as an insecure but stubborn young gay man named Kaleb obtains a gym membership and hires a personal trainer to improve his physique. Although initially unsuccessful in negotiating the labyrinth of exercise machines and intimidating body masses, with the help of his patient personal trainer named Travis, Kaleb overcomes his nerves and finds a strength within himself that he never knew he had.
Directed by Jesse Ung (New Zealand)

A five-year-old girl is caught in the middle of a struggle between her recently widowed father and his elderly aunt who disagree on how best to adapt to the customs and laws of their newly adopted home in the United Kingdom. The aunt’s failure to abandon ancient African tribal traditions, including the harmful practice of FGM or female genital mutilation, leads to potentially devastating consequences for the young girl. All six characters in the film are played by one remarkable female actor, Mimi Ndiweni.
Directed by Terrence Turner (Canada)

Factual scenes of Hollywood Blockbusters played by Katrin Butt.
Directed by Katrin Butt (Austria)

She takes with Greta Garbe and Marlene Dietrich in her daydreams, someday she will become a star!
Directed by Katrin Butt (Bahrain)

Katrin Butt shows people, a performance, plays a scene as a nun, and she says she wants to sleep with God. Then you can see her sleeping with God.
Directed by Katrin Butt (Austria)

“The Man in the Back Seat” depicts the real-time horror of a violent kidnapping in a single, uninterrupted shot.
Directed by Tom Kircher (USA)

One overweight train passenger unintentionally disrupts everyone’s commute. All walks of life are joined together in a gag-filled series of stops and starts on route to their destination.
Directed by Brad Gibson (Canada)

The film focuses on Hazel, a high school girl trying her best to navigate through life as simply as she can. She wants what most of us do, to get into college, to have a good relationship with her family and friends, and most of all, to be loved. Her roadblocks in this quest come from her abusive stepfather, her disapproving mother, and the world of false hope that she has created around her biological father. With her boyfriend Tyler there for her every step of the way, will he be enough to keep her on track? For Hazel, there just not may be a “normal.”
Directed by Dylan Riley Snyder (USA)

A couple on a romantic getaway encounters an unforeseen spine-chilling eco-thriller short film.
Directed by Sriram Vegaraju (USA)

“Ranvir” is a drama about a young Indo-Canadian man who must enter the racist, white supremacist underworld in order to save a loved one.
Directed by Amit Dhuga (Canada)